Changeable card exhibitor



Nov. 19, 1963 W. W. WELLS ETAL CHANGEABLE CARD EXHIBITOR Filed Aug. 25,1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 19, 1963 w, w. WELLS ETAL 3,110,976

CHANGEABLE CARD EXHIBITOR Filed Aug. 25, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W gw@ mMATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,llll,976 CHANGEABLE CARD EXHEBHQRWilliam W. Wells, Springfield, and Edward D. Eunnell, Fairfax, Va.,assignors to The Monitor Corporation, Washington, D.C., a corporation ofthe District oi'- Columbia naar Aug. 2s, isst, ser. Ne. rasata s Claims.(er. ni-7s) This invention relates to a changeable card exhibitor'.

One well known class of card exhibitor includes a rectangular cabinetsomewhat taller than wide, having a viewing opening in the upper portionof the front face. Commonly7 cards are ybrought into View in the viewingopening, held there for a suihcient period of time for the viewer tocomprehend the message contained upon the card whereupon the exposedcard disappears from View into the lorwer part of the cabinet andanother card is brought into view.

Such exhibiting devices are normally mechanically operated and are wellsuited for relatively iixed positioning in store windows, conventionbooths and other locations Where there is a constantly renewed supply ofobservers. Howvever, these devices are relatively heavy, lacking ease ofportability; they are not sufficiently economical to be freely used andthey are not well adapted to rapid change of one or more cards of theset being exhibited. Usually too, the number of cards -to be shown islimited by the depth from front to back of the equipment, since thesedevices usually employ guides for controlling the vertical movement ofthe cards.

Another type of card exhibitor, widely used before small audiences isthe easel presentation. Here the cards are simply supported upon 1aledge on an easel, with the speaker or an assistant manually moving thecards into view .by any one of several manipulative techniques. Thisarrangement is cheap and relatively more portable than the previousnamed device although the large size of the easel requires that someprevious arrangement be made for setting it in place. in shitting thecards into view, strict Iattention must be paid by the operator toexhibit them in proper order. It has been noted that the movement of thecards during the changing operation, tends to distract the attention ofthe audience.

The subject matter of the present invention pai-takes somewhat of thenature of both of the named devices, including certain novel featuresnot found in either. The exhibitor' of this invention is light in weightand neat in appearance so that it may be carried about the street asreadily `as a piece of fine luggage. lt may be produced at low cost,thus broadening the field of utility of such devices and, because it ishand operated, its use is not dependent upon access to electricity.

The apparatus is completely self contained and requires no adjustmentfor use so that the operator may begin the exhibition of cards withouthaving had previous access to the room where the exhibition takes place.When the cards are changed there is no diversion of the interest of theaudience. The cards disappear from view upon only a small `movement ofthe operators hand.

An important advantage possessed by the exhibitor of this invention isthat it requires only a very small expenditure of time and eifort toreplace one or all of the cards being shown or to otherwise change theprograming of the exhibition.

For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference should be had tothe specification that follows together with the accompanying drawingswherein:

FIGURE l is an isometric view of the complete device, seen principallyfrom the front;

FIGURE 2 is a :front elevation in section with the front face of thecabinet structure removed;

JCC

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation in section along the section lines 3 3 ofFlGURE 2;

FiGURE 4 is an enlarged partial View of FlGURE 2, portions being shownin section;

FEGURE 5 is another enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 5 5 orFiGURE 4;

FiGURE 6 is still another enlarged view taken along the lines 6 6 ofFIGURE 5; and

FGURES 7 to 9 are a series of sequential views, showing the manner inwhich a card is changed.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral it) designates generally theexhibitor, being made up of a front panel 12, left and right side wallsliland it, a rear panel and a bottom l. Access to the interior isafforded by means of a removable top member 2t? about which more Iwillbe said later.

Located in the front panel l2, in the upper half thereof is exhibitopening 22 through which may be seen an exhibit card 24. The cards andexhibiting device have sizes that complement each other. The width ofthe cabinet, internally, amounts tothe width of the card 24 plus the twospaces 216 and 28 at the sides, which are substantially equal. Strictlyspeaking, the width of the cabinet is approximately equal to the widthof the cards plus only one of the spaces, since, 'as will be explained,the cards occupy one or the other of the spaces. The exhibit opening 22is just sufficiently smaller than the dimensions of the card 24 toprovide tasteful concealment of the card edges. Obviously, the openingmight be smaller or its shape might not conform to the shape of thecard, but generally, in order to obtain maximum visibiiity of the entirecard area, the opening will not be materially' smaller Ithan required`for goed appeanance. The height of the space Btl, extending from thelower card edge as it is viewed is selected Kso that a card resting uponcushion 32, will slightly Voverlap `a card seen lthrough the exhibitingopening. The reason for this will appear below. A small clear space 34which need not be as great as the spaces 26 and 2S extends below thecushion 35 on the underside of closure Ztl.

A strip 3S extends along the left side of storage space 35i terminatingin a rectangular ledge 39 upon which a lower corner of the cards 2drests, while the cards are in exhibit position. On the right hand sideof the upper space, diagonally across corner of the card 24 member e@projects outwardly from the right hand Wall lr6 to provide a shortvertical component 42, against which the upper right hand corner of thecard 24 may rest.

rhe ledge 39 and the vertical component 42 ailord the principal supportor the cards in exhibit position. lt has been found that, when a cabinetaccommodating about 2O to 30 cards is employed, there is not too seriousa tendency for cards 14 or 17 inches wide to buckle along a verticalaxis. Further, when the cabinet size is arranged to provide the slightoverlap between cards in the lower storage space and other cards inexhibit position, an additional reinforcement against buckling isprovided.

lt will be seen that the transfer of cards from exhibit position tolower storage position and vice versa is very simple. It will be notedthat the position behind the exhibit opening is referred to as theexhibit position; actualiy, only the forward-most card is beingexhibited, While the remaining cards are being stored for subsequentexhibit but, since each of the cards will be ultimately exhibited whilein this position, as soon as the cards before it are removed, suchterminology is deemed to be justified. As shown in FIGURE 2, the normal,exhibit position of a card is shown in solid lines while the position ofthe card about to make its descent into the storage space is shown inFIGURE S.

A complete sequence of positions is found in FIG- andere URES 7 to 9. Atrst, the card is supported on ledge 39, leaning against verticalcomponent In this position, the left edge of the card closely abuts theleft wall of the cabinet ld, leaving no space S, whereas there is a fullspace at 23. lt will be seen that by tilting the card 24 in a counterclockwise direction, the lower left corner of the card will be removedfrom its supporting ledge, leaving the card 24 to slide down into space3d, coming to rest on the cushion device 32. To assist the card infollowing the proper path in its initial descent, the projecting memberdit) has a downwardly slanting surface 4d on its underside.

FIGURE 7 shows the exhibiting position. FlGURE 8 shows the cards d aboutto descend and FGURE 9 shows the card in the lower storage position.Although only a small ledge 39 is needed to support the cards in raisedposition, it is desirable to have it extended continuously down the sideld, to snugly guide the cards to the bottom of their lower position. lfthe entire exhibitor cabinet is inverted, with the cards coming to reston the upper cushion 36, the cards will be guided by the angular face 44of the projecting member d@ to what is normally the left hand side ofthe cabinet and a sharp blow with the hand on the side of the cabinetwill jog what is normally the lower left hand corner of the cards intoproper position, so that, when the cabinet is returned to its normalposition, the cards will remain in the upper exhibit space.

A suitable device for shifting the cards, one at a time, is shown toenlarged scale in FIGURES 4 to 6 inclusive. A bearing block member 46 isixed to the side wall le in the upper portion thereof and toward thefront of the casing. Through this bearing block passes a short shaft d8,to which is attached on the outside, the hub of handle t). Within thecabinet, a crank collar 52 iixes the shaft against aidal movement andprovides an attachment point for the bias spring 54, secured at itsother end to the element 56, suitably xed on the side Wall 16. Thespring is arranged to hold the handle 5t? in a generally uprightposition while yieldingly permitting such handle to be rotated forwardlyand downwardly about one quarter turn. At the innermost end of the shaft48 is the wiping foot 58. This foot may desirably consist of a leafspring faced with sott trictional material such as a slightly tackyrubber or a iinely porous sponge rubber. Normally, the foot hangs freeas shown in the solid lines. When it is desired to lower a card, thehandle 50 is depressed, bringing the foot into contact with the frontcard 24 of the card stack and further depression of the handle 5t) willcause the card to be raised while it slips over the face of the cardbehind, urged by the frictional engagement of the foot 5S. When the cardhas been raised Sulliciently, the handle is released, the bias springreturns the foot to inoperative position and the card falls of its ownweight.

As shown in FIGURE 7, it is suilicient to use a cushion 37 in the centerof the top 20, and in such case, the cushion may extend downwardlyalmost touching the cards. In this way, the cushion 37 acts as a fulcrumabout which the card 24 may pivot when being raised.

The removable top member 2t) may be held in place by any suitable meansnot shown. By its removable nature, it provides ready access to thecards when they are in exhibit position. As desired, the cards may beremoved as a unit and replaced by another set. As required by the needsor" a particular audience, individual cards may be removed or added orthe order of the cards may be changed. Any ot' these operations may becompleted in the space of one to three minutes time, making the deviceespecially attractive for those fields wherein flexible presentationsare important.

The exhibitor may be finished in leather or an imitation thereof andprovided with a suitable carrying handle. When iitted with a closurepanel for lling up the exhibit opening, the device has the appearanceand convenience of a piece of luggage so that it may easily be carriedabout for sales, training, briefing and conferences in general. Forsmall conferences, classes and other educational activities, the devicehas great advantages over blackboard and optically projectedpresentations. All of the subject matter may be prepared before class,avoiding wastage of class time and the material can be prepared quicklyand easily without the delay involved in processing photographicpresentations. Added to this, its low cost of manufacture facilitatesthe use of visual aid in the class room. The disadvantage of exhibitingdevices using separate guides for vertically movable cards has been thespace, in depth, of the exhibit case, taken up by the guides. In turn,this has limited the number of cards that may be shown, since the rearcards of any given set, sufler from lack of illumination, being enclosedon all four sides. Production models of the herein disclosed inventionmeasure only one and one-half inches thick, with a holding capacity oftwenty to thirty cards.

We claim:

l. A card exhibitor `for showing a plurality of rectangular cards eachof the same face `dimensions comprising, a shallow cabinet somewhatwider than the lateral dimension Kof said cards and about twice theheight of the vertical dimension of the cards having: a front panelhaving, in the upper portion thereof an exhibit opening framing the faceof the cards being exhibited; the space within the cabinet beingallocated to an upper storage space behind the exhibit opening and alower storage space behind the closed portion of said front panel; acushion device on the floor of the Ilower storage space for cushioningthe fall of cards thereupon; a ledge upon a first side wall of thecabinet, in the lower space and below the exhibit opening, the outer lipof said ledge being .spaced horizontally from the second, opposite sidewall, slightly more than the lateral `dimension of the cards, `aprojecting mem-ber having a vertical face, extending toward the firstside wall a distance substantially equal to the width of the ledge andlocated on the second side wall with the lower edge yof its verticalface above the upper surface o-f the ledge slightly less than thevertical dimension of the cards; a iirst clear space in the upperstorage space extending from the projecting member on the second sidewall, extending along said sidewall downwardly into the lower storagespace; said cards ibeing held in exhibit position behind the exhibitopening with the lower face of a lower corner resting upon said ledgeand the side -face of the diagonally opposite corner resting against thevertical face of said projecting member; a second clear space above thecards in exhibit position; and a card shifting member associated withsaid cabinet, said shifting member including an operator vfoot elementmovable into and out of engagement with the face of the frontmost card,an operating handle and an yoperating shaft connecting said handle andsaid foot element whereby actuation of said handle causes said `footelement to engage the frontmost card and move it upwardly and sidewardlytoward said rst and second clear spaces and off said ledge and wherebyrelease of engagement of said foot element releases said card to enablesaid yfrontmost card to fa'll into the lower storage space, therebyexposing a following card; said cabinet being invertable whereby cardslocated in the normally lower storage compartment may slide into thenormally upper storage compartment and, upon tilting of said cabinet,come to rest upon said ledge and said projecting member for subsequentexhibition.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the vertical 'distance from thecushion on the door of the storage space to the ledge on the side wall,yis less than the vertical dimension of the cards, whereby there will`be an overlap between `cards in the lower storage space and cards inthe exhibit position.

3. The structure'of claim l wherein the projecting member located on thesecond side wall slopes downwardly from its lower, exposed verticalface, toward the side wall, said sloping portion serving to guide thecards in their vertical movement,

4. The structure of claim 1 including `a member projecting downwardlyinto the second clear space, spaced between the two side walls, to serveas a lfulcrum in the shifting of the cards.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein the downwardly projecting member isof cushion material to cushion the cards `as they are returned toexhibit position.

6. The structure of claim l including a cushion in the upper part of thecabinet to cushion the cards as they are returned to exhibit position.

7. A card exhibitor for showing a plurality of rectangular cands each ofthe same face dimensions comprising, a shallow cabinet some-what widerthan the lateral dimension or said cards and Vabout twice the height ofthe vertical dimension of the cards having: a front panel having, in theupper portion thereof an exhibit opening framing the yface of the cardsbeing exhibited; the space within the cabinet `being allocated to anupper storage space behind the exhibit opening and a lower storage space'behind the closed portion of said -front panel; a cushion device on thelloor of the lower storage space for cushioning the fall of cardsthereupon; a iiller striA upon a lrst side wall of the cabinet, in thelower space yand below the exhibit opening, said tiller stripterminating in a ledge, the outer lip of said ledge being spacedhorizontally yfrom the second, opposite side wall, slightly more thanthe lateral dimension of the cands; a projecting member, having avertical face extending toward the lirst side wall a distancesubstantially equal to the width of the ledge and located on the secondside wall with the lower edge of its vertical face above the uppersurface of the ledge slightly less than the vertical dimension of thecards; `a drst clear space in the upper storage space extending 'fromthe projecting member on the second side wall, extending along said sidewall downwardly into the lower storage space; said cards being held inexhibit position behind the exhibit opening with the lower face of v.aIlower corner resting upon said ledge and the side face of thediagonally opposite corner resting against the vertical face of saidprojecting member; a second clear space above the cards in exhibitposition; and a card shifting member associated with said cabinet, saidshifting member including an operator foot element movable into and outof engagement with the face of the frontmost card, an operating handleand an operating shaft connecting said handle and said foot elementwhereby actuation of said handle causes sai-d foot element to engage thetrontrnost card and move `it )upwandly and sidewardly toward said firstand sec-ond clear spaces and oft said ledge and whereby release ofengagement of said foot element releases said cand to enable saidfrontmost card to afll into the lower storage space, thereby exposing afollowing card; said cabinet being invertable whereby cards located inthe normally lower storage compartment may slide into the normally upperstorage compartment and, upon tilting of isaid cabinet, come to restupon said ledge and said projecting member for subsequent exhibition.

8. A card exhibitor `for showing a plurality of 'rectangular cards eachof the same face dimensions comprising, a shallow cabinet somewhat widerthan the lateral dimension of said cards and about twice the height ofthe vertical dimension of the cards having: a front panel having, in the`upper portion thereof an exhibit opening framing the face of the car-dsbeing exhibited; the space within the cabinet being `allocated to anupper storage space lbehind the exhibit opening and a lower storagespace Ibehind the closed portion of said ifront panel; a cushion deviceon the oor of the lower storage space for cushioning the 4fall of cardsthereupon; a ledge upon a first side wall of the cabinet, in the lowerspace and Ibelow the exhibit opening, the outer lip of said ledge beingspaced Ifrom the second, opposite side wall, slightly more than thelateral dimension of the cards; a projecting member, having a vertical`face extending toward the first side wall a distance substantiallyequal to the width of the ledge and located on the second side wall withthe lower edge of its vertical face above the upper surface of the ledgeslightly less than the vertical dimension of the cards; a iirst clearspace in the upper storage space extending yfrom the projecting memberon the second side wall, extending along said side wall downwardly intothe lower storage space; said cards being ield in exhibit positionbehind the exhibit opening with the lower face of a lower corner restingupon `said ledge and the side face of the diagonally opposite corner`resting against the verticall `face of said projecting member; a secondclear space above the cards in exhibit position; and means associatedwith said cabinet, for shifting said cards from a position before saidexhibit opening to said lower storage space, thereby exposing =aifoilowing card; said cabinet being invertable whereby cards `located inthe non mally lower storage compartment may slide into the normallyupper storage compartment and, upon tilting of said cabinet, come torest upon said ledge and said projecting member for subsequentexhibition.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,239,324 Vehb` Sept. 4, 1917 1,728,900 Madsen Sept. 17, 1929 2,707,345Swank May 3, 1955 2,848,827 Kiker Aug. 26, 1958

1. A CARD EXHIBITOR FOR SHOWING A PLURALITY OF RECTANGULAR CARDS EACH OFTHE SAME FACE DIMENSIONS COMPRISING, A SHALLOW CABINET SOMEWHAT WIDERTHAN THE LATERAL DIMENSION OF SAID CARDS AND ABOUT TWICE THE HEIGHT OFTHE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE CARDS HAVING: A FRONT PANEL HAVING, IN THEUPPER PORTION THEREOF AN EXHIBIT OPENING FRAMING THE FACE OF THE CARDSBEING EXHIBITED; THE SPACE WITHIN THE CABINET BEING ALLOCATED TO ANUPPER STORAGE SPACE BEHIND THE EXHIBIT OPENING AND A LOWER STORAGE SPACEBEHIND THE CLOSED PORTION OF SAID FRONT PANEL; A CUSHION DEVICE ON THEFLOOR OF THE LOWER STORAGE SPACE FOR CUSHIONING THE FALL OF CARDSTHEREUPON; A LEDGE UPON A FIRST SIDE WALL OF THE CABINET, IN THE LOWERSPACE AND BELOW THE EXHIBIT OPENING, THE OUTER LIP OF SAID LEDGE BEINGSPACED HORIZONTALLY FROM THE SECOND, OPPOSITE SIDE WALL, SLIGHTLY MORETHAN THE LATERAL DIMENSION OF THE CARDS, A PROJECTING MEMBER HAVING AVERTICAL FACE, EXTENDING TOWARD THE FIRST SIDE WALL A DISTANCESUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE WIDTH OF THE LEDGE AND LOCATED ON THE SECONDSIDE WALL WITH THE LOWER EDGE OF ITS VERTICAL FACE ABOVE THE UPPERSURFACE OF THE LEDGE SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THECARDS; A FIRST CLEAR SPACE IN THE UPPER STORAGE SPACE EXTENDING FROM THEPROJECTING MEMBER ON THE SECOND SIDE WALL, EXTENDING ALONG SAID SIDEWALLDOWNWARDLY INTO THE LOWER STORAGE SPACE; SAID CARDS BEING HELD INEXHIBIT POSITION BEHIND THE EXHIBIT OPENING WITH THE LOWER FACE OF ALOWER CORNER RESTING UPON SAID LEDGE AND THE SIDE FACE OF THE DIAGONALLYOPPOSITE CORNER RESTING AGAINST THE VERTICAL FACE OF SAID PROJECTINGMEMBER; A SECOND CLEAR SPACE ABOVE THE CARDS IN EXHIBIT POSITION; AND ACARD SHIFTING MEMBER ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CABINET, SAID SHIFTING MEMBERINCLUDING AN OPERATOR FOOT ELEMENT MOVABLE INTO AND OUT OF ENGAGEMENTWITH THE FACE OF THE FRONTMOST CARD, AN OPERATING HANDLE AND ANOPERATING SHAFT CONNECTING SAID HANDLE AND SAID FOOT ELEMENT WHEREBYACTUATION OF SAID HANDLE CAUSES SAID FOOT ELEMENT TO ENGAGE THEFRONTMOST CARD AND MOVE IT UPWARDLY AND SIDEWARDLY TOWARD SAID FIRST ANDSECOND CLEAR SPACES AND OFF SAID LEDGE AND WHEREBY RELEASE OF ENGAGEMENTOF SAID FOOT ELEMENT RELEASES SAID CARD TO ENABLE SAID FRONTMOST CARD TOFALL INTO THE LOWER STORAGE SPACE, THEREBY EXPOSING A FOLLOWING CARD;SAID CABINET BEING INVERTABLE WHEREBY CARDS LOCATED IN THE NORMALLYLOWER STORAGE COMPARTMENT MAY SLIDE INTO THE NORMALLY UPPER STORAGECOMPARTMENT AND, UPON TILTING OF SAID CABINET, COME TO REST UPON SAIDLEDGE AND SAID PROJECTING MEMBER FOR SUBSEQUENT EXHIBITION.